Mum furious after photo of disabled son removed by Instagram

A Midland mum has blasted Instagram – after a photo of her disabled son was removed by the photography sharing platform.

Charlene Beswick was backed by thousands of people as social media users moved to back the mum.Instagram took down an image that Charlene had posted of herself and her son Harry.

The 12-year-old was born without a left nostril, eye socket and left ear, reports our sister site the Sentinel.

The photo, which showed Harry without the prosthetic eye he normally wears, was accompanied by a light-hearted caption.

But Charlene, also known as Charlie, was furious to receive a message from Instagram to say it had been removed because it did not comply with the site’s ‘community guidelines’.

She took to Twitter in protest, posting the image alongside the caption: “Someone is reporting my son’s face and #Instagram agree saying it doesn’t meet their guidelines before removing it.”

She was amazed when her post was retweeted 59,000 times and thousands of messages of support from well-wishers – including well-known figures including singer Liz McClarnon and Birmingham actor Adil Ray – flooded in.

Charlene, from Biddulph , has now been besieged with interview requests from the media and was due to appear on Good Morning Britain on Thursday.

The 38-year-old said: “I posted the picture of me giving Harry a kiss on Sunday.

“It was the second time they had done it – the first was two months ago and it was also a photo of Harry without his prosthetic eye,” she said.

“I contacted them then to ask why and no-one got back to me, so this time I tweeted out saying I wanted some support. It just went crazy.”

Charlene’s twin boys Harry and Oliver were born prematurely at 32 weeks.

Harry has Goldenhar syndrome, an ‘umbrella’ term for a range of bone abnormalities affecting the face and sometimes the vertebrae, and has undergone numerous operations to reconstruct his face.

Charlene has written a book about bringing up the boys and chronicles the family’s experiences in her blog Our Altered Life. She regularly posts photos of the boys on social media.

She said: “I’m incredibly proud of Harry. As a parent it’s my duty to allow people to see him and realise what he’s been through.

“The more people that can see children like Harry, the more accepting they will become. If we hide our children away like in Victorian times then we won’t ever move forward.”

She added: “The reaction to my post on Twitter has been insane. It’s incredible to see we have got that sort of support and that people want the best for us.”

Instagram restored the photo on Tuesday evening and told The Guardian: “We mistakenly removed the photo, but quickly restored it as soon as the mistake was brought to our attention.

“We have apologised to the family.”

But Charlene said she had not received an apology.

She said: “I received an email to say the photo had been restored, but it didn’t explain why it had been taken down, and there was no apology.”

Instagram’s community guidelines ban photos deemed ‘inappropriate for a diverse audience’, including those depicting nudity, celebrating organised crime or terrorism, or glorifying self-injury.

Get Daily updates directly to your inbox+ SubscribeA Midland mum has blasted Instagram – after a photo of her disabled son was removed by the photography sharing platform.

Charlene Beswick was backed by thousands of people as social media users moved to back the mum.

The app also bans content used to bully or harass anyone based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, disabilities or diseases.

Caroline Sherratt, a friend of Charlene, said Instagram’s conduct had been ‘disgraceful’.

The 46-year-old, of Biddulph, said: “Harry is a beautiful child. Surely no picture of a mother kissing her son is offensive to anyone.

“The response has been overwhelming and crazy but rightly so – it was an outrage.”